The Triassic Lower Amaranth formation (known as the Spearfish in North Dakota) is an unconventional light oil resource play with more than 2 billion barrels of original oil in place (OOIP). Just like the Viking in Saskatchewan or the Cardium in Alberta, the formation has been drilled through vertically numerous times since oil was first discovered in the 1950’s. The play is situated in the north eastern portion of the Williston basin where a fairway of oil charged formation sands runs from Southwestern Manitoba (Waskada and Pierson fields) into North-central North Dakota (Bouttineau county).